Tennessee's newest specialty license plate features Lady Vols legendary coach Pat Summitt

Natalie Allison
The Tennessean
Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt and associate head coach Holly Warlick smile are interviewed at Summitt's home March 12, 2012, regarding their team's No. 2 seeding in the Des Moines regional of the NCAA tournament.

Now that 1,000 Tennesseans have signed up, the state has approved its newest specialty license plate: a smiling image of late Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt.

The Pat Summitt Foundation announced Friday that it had secured the required 1,000 pre-orders for its specialty license plate to go to production.

A portion of the sales of the plates will go toward the foundation, providing an annual stream of revenue to support Alzheimer's patients and caregivers, along with disease research.

Special Pat Summitt Foundation license plates will include the foundation logo and a photo of Summitt. This is a preliminary design.

Summitt, who died in June 2016 at 64, retired in 2012 as the head coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team, a position she had held since 1974.

The state had required a minimum 1,000 pre-orders be made by June 30 to begin the process of making the plates. 

The foundation expects State of Tennessee Vehicle Services to complete the production process within three months, at which time anyone who ordered one of the plates will receive directions in the mail on where to pick theirs up.

Sunny Biden, foundation director of public relations, estimates the license plates will generate about $26,000 for the foundation if the plates continue to be renewed.

The foundation began the fundraiser in June 2016, just before Summitt's death.

Its initial plan was to secure the pre-orders within a year in order to have the plates produced, but when it was apparent the goal wouldn't be met on time, the organization received a special one-year extension from the state.

In the last month, the foundation received some 200 orders.

Summitt established the foundation in November 2011, a few months after receiving her diagnosis. A fund of the East Tennessee Foundation, the foundation awards grants to nonprofit groups that advance research for treatment and a cure, provides patient and caregiver support, and offers public education about Alzheimer’s disease.

In late 2016, the foundation and UT Medical Center opened the Pat Summitt Clinic, which focuses on patient care for Alzheimer's, resources for caregivers and families, and research trials in search of a cure.

Amy McRary contributed to this story.